Techniques for Goods Transport Surveys in Urban Areas - A Review Paper

Abstract

This study has been undertaken to study Road and rail which is two most important inland modes of transportation available in our country. Rail transport is one of the important and more utilized transport in our country for Goods. Due to growth in infrastructure sector one should find the best possible techniques for Goods Transport surveys in Urban Areas.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Road and rail are the two most important inland modes of transportation available in the country. But because of the various advantages in the former mode of transportation over the latter, especially in the transportation of different commodities, it is gaining more and more importance. During the period from 1960-61 to 1965-66, the share of goods traffic carried by rail has fallen from 84 per cent to 78 per cent and there is a corresponding increase in the case of road transport. There is a further fall in the proportion from 78 per cent to 76 per cent in 1968-69.Also further study of Roads and Railways is carried out by taking use of websites , online platforms for the year 2017 to 2022.

1. Road and rail are the two most important inland modes of transportation available in the country. But because of the various advantages in the former mode of transportation over the latter, especially in the transportation of different commodities, it is gaining more and more importance. During the period from 1960-61 to 1965-66, the share of goods traffic carried by rail has fallen from 84 per cent to 78 per cent and there is a corresponding increase in the case of road transport. There is a further fall in the proportion from 78 per cent to 76 per cent in 1968-69.Also in Yar 2017-18, 2019-20 and 2021-22 , Continuous increase in Goods Traffic in Railways. Also in Year 2017-18, 2019-20 and 2021-22 , In Roads Good Traffic is less as compared to Goods Traffic transporatation used by Railways.

TABLE I Goods traffic (Billion Tonne-Kilometers) Percentage Share

TABLE-2 Goods traffic (Million Tonne-Kilometers)  Percentage Share

2. The higher proportion of goods traffic carried by railways is only because of the low-rated goods in bulk such as coal, iron ore, steel, foodgrains, fertilisers, cement mineral oil etc., which account for more than 60 per cent of the total goods moved by the railways. But all the high rated traffic previously being trans­ported by railways is now going towards road transport. Thus, keeping in view this increasing preference towards road transport, especially for the purpose of goods transportation, it is necessary to pro­vide all facilities for efficient and economi­cal flow of goods traffic in metropolitan cities. For the planning of an efficient sys­tem of circulation of goods traffic in a me­tropolitan city and also for the purpose of recommending suitable locations for goods terminals, parkings, railway goods sheds and other facilities in the city, it is quite essential that exhaustive surveys are conducted to study the different aspects of the problem.

II. METHODS OF CONDUCTING STUDIES

There are two methods, generally, used for conducting goods transport studies;

1. Registration method,
2. Road-side Interview method.

A. Registration Method

1. In this method, an up-to-date list of operators of goods vehicles regis­tered with the local transport authority is obtained along with the addresses of their normal residences or offices. On the basis of a suitable sampling technique, a proportion of the total strength of goods vehicles is selected for the purpose of collection of necessary data. Data regard­ing the trips performed by the selected vehicles on a reference day along with other necessary informations is collected through personal interviews with the operators at their normal residences or offices.
2. In a study on 'Goods traffic survey in Delhi' conducted by the Ministry of Transport and Communication in 1957, this method of Registration was adopted. But this method has many serious drawbacks and difficulties. The most important drawback is that this method cannot cover those mechanically propelled goods vehicles which are regis­tered with other neighbouring States and at the same time taking active role in the transportation of various commodities to or from the Urban city under study. Even otherwise, this method is quite expensive and time consuming especially in locating the residences of the operators of the vehicles. Also, the accuracy of the data to be collected through this method may not be reliable since it would not be subject to any verification.

B. Roadside Interview Method

1. In this method certain suitable focal points are marked, covering the entire study area, which are quite impor­tant from the point of view of goods traffic such as:

a. Locations from where the goods traffic is either generated or loca­tions to which the traffic is attracted (terminated) or both such as railways goods sheds, railway parcel offices and mandis etc.

b. Roads which carry heavy volume of goods traffic.

2. Field surveys are conducted on all the selected focal points and the requi­red data is collected at the site itself. This method has many advantages which the previous method does not possess. The data collected can be more accurate and reliable since it is also subject to verification at the site itself.

3. The Central Road Research Institute has recently, conducted an extensive study on the subject, at the request and on behalf of Delhi Adminis­tration and the Planning Commission, Government of India. In this study, collection of data was done by the 'Roadside interview method'.

III. TECHNIQUE OF SURVEY ADOPTED IN A RECENT GOODS TRANSPORT

1. Before the actual surveys were undertaken, a pilot survey was conducted of the entire study area and a list of all the suitable locations or roads which were quite important from the point of view of goods traffic as explained earlier were obtained. The selected focal points were further classified into three categories, namely, inner-cordon, mid-cordon, and outer-cordon points. As it was also revealed through the study the classifica­tion was mostly based upon the area of service of different vehicles observed at those focal points. All these goods vehicles passing through the inner-cordon stations were found transporting goods mostly within the C.B.D. (central business districts) area of the city. Similarly, vehicles observed at mid. cordon stations were found transporting commodities to both local and inter city areas. While as vehicles passing through the outer-cordon stations were found carrying, mostly, on inter city areas.
2. Having finalised the selection of the locations for the purpose of field surveys, the actual collection of field data was done on these stations by means of (1) Traffic Census of goods vehicles and (it) Interview of goods vehicles.
3. Traffic Census With the help of a suitable proforma, complete census of goods vehicles was obtained both for slow moving and mechanically propelled vehicles passing through both the sides of the survey point, i.e., entering or leaving the survey point. The goods vehicles were classified into the following important categories;

a. Mechanically Propelled vehicles constituting trucks, tempos and others such as truck-trailers etc.

b. Slow moving vehicles constituting bullock carts, hand carts, horse carts (rehras) and others such as camel carts etc.

4. Interviewing of Vehicles For the purpose of collection of necessary data about the goods vehicles, separate proformae were designed for slow-moving and mechanically propelled vehicles as shown in Appendices 1 and 2. The data was collected regarding the origin and destination of the vehicle, the commodities transported, the load (weight) carried, the distance to which the com­modities were transported and all other items as desired. A suitable proportion of the total goods vehicles passing through a focal point were selected and interviewed at the site itself.

5. Sampling Technique

a. Generally for the sake of con­venience a fixed proportion of goods vehicles passing through a point is taken for the purpose of interviewing the vehicles. It may be 20 per cent or 25 per cent, by taking every fifth or a fourth vehicle passing through a particular side of the survey point. But since the rate of flow of goods vehicles at a particular point is generally observed to be varying much during different periods, the pro­cedure of taking a constant proportional sampling throughout the day is little difficult as it requires corresponding fluctuations in the strength of the inter­viewers etc. To avoid this difficulty, a new sampling technique was designed which was adopted for the study conduc­ted by the Institute. In this technique, the two basic requirements kept in view were :--

• Vehicle delay was kept to a minimum, and
• The drivers of the goods vehicles were interviewed strictly according to Ran­dom sampling vehicles flowing in a particular direction.

b. To start with the procedure, the first few vehicles were stopped on one side of the road and the interviewers were asked to start their work. While the interviewers were busy with the previous vehicles the other vehicles, passing through the point, were allowed to go till when a previous vehicle had left the interviewing site and the interviewer was ready to start a fresh interview, a signal was given to the police official who then directed the first vehicle that reached him into the interviewing site. The procedure continued till the end.

c. In actual practice only this method of "Variable rate sampling" is always preferred over the other methods of "Time cluster sampling" and "Volume cluster sampling" etc. Interviewers are employed at a constant rate and the size of the sample selected varies with the volume of traffic flow. To reduce bias different sample rates are usually calcula­ted for different classes of vehicle. After the field surveys are completed, the data is statistically processed so as to derive important findings on the basis of which recommendations can be made regarding locations suitable for the purposes of goods terminals, idle parking of goods vehicles, railway yards etc., for an efficient and economical system of flow of goods traffic in the Urban area.

Conclusion

1) Benefits of rail transport over road transport, one should keep in mind is :- Rail transport can be cost effective, Shipping via train is more environmentally friendly, Trains are capable of hauling large loads, Railways are reliable, Rail freight can be efficient, Rail options provide you with access to capacity. 2) Rail transports are more dependable than road transport (bad road conditions make road transport undependable). 3) Bad weather does not affect rail transport as much as it affects road transport. 4) As Railways are being managed by the Government in India, the tariff charged for transporting goods is determined only by the Railway Ministry. The rates, therefore, are standardized. 5) Railway accidents are much less when compared to accidents in highways. This ensures safe transportation of goods to different destinations. 6) Railways will have to strictly adhere to the time schedule. This avoids delay.

References

[1] Website:- https://pwddelhi.gov.in/writeread/Other/201704201119442726.pdf [2] Website:- https://www.csir.res.in/gallery/central-road-research-institute-crri-new-delhi [3] Website:- https://crridom.gov.in/ [4] Highway Engineering by Khanna & Justo,2018. [5] Highway Engineering by L.R. Kadiyali,2018. [6] Highway Engineering by Rangwala, 2012. [7] Transportation Engineering by D.R. Pathak and H.K. Giite,2018.

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Purvansh Bhupendrabhai Shah. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.